Aranel's Story
by Kalina Rhaun
Summary: This is a story about Wufei's little sister. Please give it a try. R
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

_( A young woman leans out her door and calls to a five-year-old.) _"Aranel! Come in for dinner. Your father and brother are home!"

_The next scene shows a tree with two small feet almost completely concealed in its branches. The two feet swing back and forth for a second; then a small figure jumps out of the tree and lands lightly on the ground. She is holding what looks to be a school book. She smiles and runs towards the house, while smoothing out her clothes. She laughs and calls out_,

"Father! Brother! Your finally home!" The five-year-old launches herself at her father and hugs him, almost knocking him over

She laughs and goes to her brother, calmer this time. "Hello, brother." The child is remembering about how the last time she had seen her brother, they had argued. A nine-year-old Wufei studies his sister intently for a minute, then says, "let's go outside". The two go out on the porch and sit down on the swings. They sit there in silence; each happy to be reunited after six months.

"So, how has my little sister been? You took good care of mother like I told you to, right?" Wufei questioned sharply with a barely perceivable smile on his face.

"Yes, brother, I have."

She sat there observing her brother as he gazed out, down toward the river, where the sun lit it aflame. '_He looks different. So tired, like he has grown up in the past six months. He seems so sad, yet so strong. Oh, no. He must have something to tell me.' _The little girl noted these things just from watching him, their bond being so strong. The last thought filled her with dread.

"Brother, what is it that you and father have been doing? You look tired. You are gonna stay for a while at least and rest. Right?" She asks quietly.

"For a time," he replies, after a short silence. "What is it that you have to tell me? Brother?" She feels that it can't be good and doesn't want to delay the process. "Well, sister, it starts like this... Father and I met a man who had a strange proposition for me...

END


	2. Arguments

**Chapter 2**

"What? You can't be serious!" Aranel yelled while jumping up in surprise. "Calm down… It is not for a while. I will visit….

Aranel?" Wufei inquired, looking down at the little face whose eyes were slowly filling with tears. He tried to calm her down and

comfort her with, "It will be okay sis. This is important. I have to be trained. It is my place as a boy, to be trained to be a strong

man. You are a girl and don't understand these things, but you might someday." The bad news, combined with other stress

caused her to react stronger than she might have if she was in a better state of mind. So she replied with, "You know what! I

can be strong too; and just because I am a girl doesn't mean that I am stupid! I will train and be stronger than you someday.

Then we will see how great men are!" With that, the little girl ran off, as fast as she could into the woods. "Aranel,…ARANEL!"

Wufei shouts and jogs after her….

**Later**

The sun is setting, and its fading rays are hitting a lake and making it shine beautifully. There is a corner of the lake with a

waterfall. There is a ledge protruding from about the top right of the waterfall. The ledge is large enough to hold a small child.

This is all set far back in the woods. It is that ledge that Aranel headed to. She always headed there to think or when she had a

bad day. It was her place. She sat there for an hour after sunset, and then lay down and fell asleep.

**Back at the House **

Wufei took one last glance at the sunset, sighed, then turned and walked into the house. His father and mother were talking

quietly at the kitchen table. They turned to him when he walked in. "Where is she?" his mother questioned. "I looked for her, but

she is hiding, I think. I can't find her. I angered her and she ran off." Wufei replied. "That girl! She should start learning the

proper place for an onna. She should be punished. She left her chores undone." The father ranted angrily. "Father, I can finish

her chores, please don't punish her. I said some things that upset her." Wufei plead. "Wufei, you need to let her learn to take

responsibility for her actions, and mind her place." His father admonished. "Yes, Father." Wufei sighed. "Well, get to bed. We'll

wait for her." The mother ordered. "Yes mother." He headed back towards his room and hoped that his little sister was okay.

**Back at the Lake **

The small form of a child shivers violently. It was the middle of the night and the temperature had dropped drastically. Despite

the coolness, a bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. She moves around, whimpering, and occasionally kicking or swatting at

something not quite there. "No…No!" An earsplitting scream can be heard as far as the house.

**Dream **

She is in a space shuttle. It is weird. She can see her colony a little ways away. She smiles to herself. "Hmm…Almost home. This is

great. I can't wait to see father and mother, and Wufei. I wonder how he is doing…" A lady starts talking on the intercom. **Ten**

**minutes until arrival at Colony L5** She smiles again, then looks back down at the book she had been reading. Suddenly there

is a bright light coming from her window. She looks out in time to see the last remains of what had been Colony L5 disappear.

No. It wasn't possible… "No…No!" She screams, banging on the side of the shuttle. Arms wrap around her, and then all goes

dark…

**End of Dream**

She wakes up, looking around and trying to convince herself that it was just a dream. She was on the colony. It had to be a

dream. She then lays back down and goes to sleep.

**Several Hours Later**

Silence…She is home alone for a few hours. She had gotten home before sunrise. When she had seen her parents that morning, strangely, neither had mentioned anything of the previous night. She walks around her house, straightening things and performing her normal tasks.

She hears a bang and looks up quickly, startled. She grabs her brother's katana and walks towards the front door.

Suddenly there is a hard knock on the front door. She jumps and very slowly approaches the door. She yanks it open and

points the katana out the door. "Who's there?" She meant it to sound tough, but it comes out more like a yelp. Silence…She

pokes her head out the door… No one is there. Puzzled, she goes back inside, shutting and locking the door. She stands there

for a second, then turns around to walk back to the living room. She stops. 'Something is not right' …She can sense

someone else in the room. "Hello?"….


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"Hello?" She repeats. She is greeted by silence. The she exclaims in a chibi voice. "You better shown yourself or else! Or m-my big brother will come and h-he is gonna be mad! Then you will regret not listening to me!"

She jumps at the sound of a chuckle. Then a deep, smooth voice responds, "Oh really? In that case I am _almost _tempted to remain hidden. It would indeed prove interesting if your brother's martial prowess is as advanced for his age as I have heard."

"Martial prowess?" She repeated, scoffingly. "My brother hates fighting! He always has his nose buried in a book!" She spoke heatedly, still slightly worked up from the previous night.

"My, my, what a silly little girl you are!" The man exclaimed, "do you honestly believe the 'facts' that you have just stated? Haven't you heard? Your brother, the bookworm, is destined to become a gundam pilot!"

"G-gundam pilot?" She repeated. She had heard the name being whispered during one of her parents conversations. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that it was going to take her brother away.

" Why is he gonna be a gundam pilot? Can't you take someone else?" She plead, grasping at straws; a tear rolling its path down her cheek. "You foolish, foolish girl. Don't you understand? This is a tremendous opportunity for you brother! Many would give much to be in his place! He will be a hero of our colony!" Then as if suddenly realizing that he had allowed himself to become worked up, he abruptly changed subject.

"Now, little one, I realize that you are still young; but have you thought about how your brother's future may affect your own?"

"What do you mean? I am a girl. The only future I could have is at home or maybe something like a secretary, like mother. The only way to become something interesting would be to leave the colony. But I don't want to leave Father and Mother…."

"Well child, it appears that you _can _think. You are correct in saying that you will have to eventually leave the colony. Now, I realize that you are yet a child, and this is a decision that would normally be made by your parents, but I will let you decide. I can see some promise in you. You don't have to answer me now, but I would like to offer you a chance to become something alike to what your brother is training to be."

"A gundam pilot?" Aranel questioned, wide-eyed.

"Not quite. I can't promise that you will ever become a gundam pilot, per say; but I _can _promise that you will receive that best training in everything. How good you truly become will be left for you to determine…"

" ….Tell me more." Aranel implored, definitely intrigued by the possibility of being with her brother and maybe becoming as good as(or better) than him.

"Well, if you did take my offer, you would begin your training when you turn age six. That would give you time to prepare and say your goodbyes, and it would give us time to prepare for you. I warn you. The training _will _be tough. There will be times when you will regret your choice to accept. You will be in training for three years. At the end of those three years, you will be introduced to the rest of your team. At that point you will all be trained to work together as a unit, yet at the same time you will each maintain your own individuality. This point of your training would last for 5 years. At the point of accepting this offer, you will be contracted to us until you turn 18. This would entail completing the individual training phase, then the group training phase, and then working for us for four years. At that point you will be offered further employment, but will have the option of continuing life elsewhere." The man said behind a smirk, knowing that after twelve years it would be almost impossible for them to recognize and survive in any lifestyle that did not employ the art of war.

"I turned five a month ago. So I would have eleven months. How long before I need to tell you my decision?" She questioned.

"….One week." Came the reply.

" Alright. How do I contact you?"

" I will contact you in a week. Think long and hard. An unwilling student of war will not survive long. Make sure that this is what you want to do."

"I will. One last thing before you leave."

"…Yes?"

"Would you show yourself so that I can trust you are honest?"

After a moments hesitation and consideration, he dropped down from the rafters in rooms to the one place 45 degrees to Aranel's right. Startled slightly, she edged back into a defensive stance; but then relaxed. She examined his facial features and realized that while he appeared to be in his late teens/early twenties, he had a lean, dangerous look to him.

'If this is what I could become, then I should do it! This is my only chance to show my brother that boys aren't the only things out there that can kick butt!' She thought with satisfaction. "I think that I want to do this." She said calmly.

"Well that is excellent to hear. I will leave you with a week yet to make sure that is what you want In a week, if your decision is yet strong, then we will start the preparations on the complex where you are to be trained."

" What exactly are the preparations?" Aranel implored.

" _Ah_, this is where it gets fun. The complex you will be training in will be specifically modified to you. Your training room, the miscellaneous, um, classrooms, and your quarters. Make no mistake. You training will be extremely harsh and demanding, and it will only worsen as your skill improves and your stamina increases; but when you are not in training, those few times, you will be treated like any normal child. I have heard of some of the training regiments that some of the other instructors have written up; and I tell you now, while you are under my station, in my training and _my_ care, you will be treated well!"

"Doesn't this cost a lot of money? All this for one person?"

"Don't you worry, child. The person backing this is well aware of the financial issues and more than able to meet them. And don't worry, but the time you turn eighteen you will have more than paid back the money for your training. Hehe…I _ASSURE_ you of that…."

"Okay… Then that's great!"

"Good. Then I will contact you in one week. Oh, and don't mention this to ANYONE. Do I have you word?"

"Um… Yes. I promise."

"Okay. Farewell then." He responded slipping silently out the back door.

A few minutes later, her family poured through the front door. "Aranel!" her mother called, " Come help me prepare dinner!"

"Yes mother." She then walked into the kitchen.

**Meanwhile**

"Yes sir. I just spoke with her. I think that we got her. Excellent choice, Sir. Her parents really are both of genius classification. At age five she comprehended everything that I said, considered it, asked intelligent questions and then made a decision!…Yes Sir! The future may yet indeed prove interesting…."


End file.
